The word "church" is substituted for a translation
of the Greek word ecclesia in every place it appears in the NT Scripture with
the exception of three instances; all three found in Acts 19:32, 39, and 41.
Look at these passages and check the marginal notes in your Bible, if it has
such, and you will see that the word "assembly" or
"congregation" are both acceptable English translations of the Greek
word ecclesia.
The word "ecclesia" cannot be translated by the word
church because it does NOT have the same meaning. A church is a religious
organization or institution; or, the word is often used to refer to a building
built by men, where people go to do their religious services. Again let me
emphasize that the word "church" should not be in Scripture since it
translates no word in the Greek text. Jesus did not die for a church or
religious organization of any kind! He died for you and me; that is, for all
the people who ever lived and who will live in the future. The C of C church,
which is constituted of several sects, is simply a man-designed denomination
just like all the other churches of today. Men have "birthed" every
CHURCH that exists today. God has no church or denomination of any kind. Church
members "belong to the church" of their choice, NOT to Jesus Christi
Jesus has no religious institution or church!
In view of the above, it should be obvious to all honest
hearts that there is no pattern In the scripture for setting up a church
institution of any kind. The "pattern" followed today by all brands
of churches, including the various C of C sects, is borrowed from the
organizations and corporate structures in today's business world. The
organization provides the mechanism for controlling the people and keeping them
in submission to the institution, its rulers and clergy. The church
organization today provides these clergymen -- the hired, professional
preachers, with employment and a livelihood! They are employed, with a job
description, just like the employees of any other business or organization. The
Eldership, the rulers or corporate officials, sets the conditions of their
employment, their duties, and pays their salary. Few, if any, will "bite
the hand that feeds them."
Let me state a vital FACT: Every time the word ecclesia is
used in connection with A CITY it is always singular! Let me cite some
examples:
1)"the ecclesia of God which is at Corinth ..." (1
Cor. 1:2)
2)"the ecclesia In Jerusalem" (Acts 15:4, 22)
3)"the ecclesia of the Thessalonians" (1 Thess.
1:1).
4}"the ecclesia In Ephesus" (Rev. 2:1)
5)"the ecclesia in Smyrna" (Rev. 2:8)
6)"the ecclesia in Pergamum" (Rev. 2:12)
7)As well as the ecclesia {always singular!) in the cities
of Thyatira, Sardis, and in Philadelphia.
Never do you read in Scripture of a plurality of ecclesias
in any city! Let that sink in and think of its significance. There was only one
ecclesia in a city and it was NOT an institution or an organization. The one
ecclesia in each city constituted, or was made up of, ALL THE SAINTS in that
city. In Jerusalem there were thousands of disciples and they all made up the
ONE ecclesia of Christ in that city! The same was true of every other city. For
certain there was no such thing as a Northside Ecclesia of Christ or a Main St.
Ecclesia of Christ in any city. They had no organized or even an unorganized
CHURCH in any city, for no such thing as a CHURCH existed in that age! I
emphasize again that all churches are from men, none are from God!
Today it is very different. There are churches of many
brands and kinds in almost every city in this nation, as well as all over the
world. NOT ONE OF THEM IS ANY PART OF THE ECCLESIA OF CHRIST! They are all
human institutions or organizations ruled and controlled by men. They do not
belong to Jesus Christ. He has no part in such human organizations and
religious systems. THERE IS NO CHURCH IN GOD'S WORD! Church of Christ churches
are human institutions just like all the other denominations.
The Ecclesia, having a LIVING Faith, is made up of --
". . lively stones, built up a spiritual house, an holy
priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus
Christ."
Matthew 16:18.
The Catholics
built a dogma around Matthew 16:18, claiming that that verse refers to the
Catholic Church. Later, non-Catholics have copied that “true church” dogma, and
applied it to their own churches. But, that dogma is not true, neither in its
Catholic version nor in its non-Catholic copies.
As was noted
earlier, the word “church” is not a translation of the word ekklêsia which we
find in the Greek text of the New Testament. – Let us consider the use of the
word ekklêsia in the New Testament, and in Matthew 16:18 in particular.
In the Greek
text of the book of Acts, the Epistles and the book of Revelation, the noun
ekklêsia is often used of the first century believers’ fellowships, but when it
comes to Matthew 16:18, it refers to something different. The immortal ekklêsia
or assembly which Jesus said he would form (the one against which the gates of
hadês would not prevail), does not consist of mortals, but of Jesus and the
first century believers who have been made into immortals. (Well, it could be that
that assembly includes even other immortals.)
The story
begins in Matthew 16:13. The subject is neither a “church” nor the apostle
Simon Peter. The subject is Jesus himself, the question being, “Who do men say
that I, the Son of Man, am?” and also, “But who do you say that I am?”
Wycliffe used
in his 1395 translation the word “church” (chirche), but for instance Tyndale
(1525) did not. Tyndale translated the Greek word ekklêsia as “congregacion”.
Well, even he used the noun “church” – twice, in Acts 14:13 and 19:37 which
both refer to buildings connected to idol-worship.
This was where
the temple of Jupiter was mentioned ….amazing when no one was looking,
